Corporate Men Aren't As Sexist As We Thought

Good news for women in the workplace: According to a new report, while U.S. companies are still paying their top female executives less than male ones—77 cents to the dollar—it might just be by accident, not because of intentional discrimination. (Oops?)

The research, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, reports that women are actually perceived, by both genders, to be just as effective as men in leadership roles—and often, more effective. To reach that conclusion, the scientists analyzed 99 data sets on the matter collected from 1962 to 2011, culled from 58 publications, 30 unpublished dissertations and theses, five books, and six other sources, with 86% of the studies conducted in the United States or Canada.

They found that "when all leadership contexts are considered, men and women do not differ in perceived leadership effectiveness," and that women were seen as more effective when they held senior-level management positions. While that's great news for many reasons—namely, that it debunks the idea that women are held back in the workplace because men think they're less capable leaders—it does raise some key questions. As Dr. Samantha C. Paustian-Underdahl, one of the study's authors, put it:

"These findings are surprising given that men on average continue to be paid more and advance into higher managerial levels than women," she said. So what can be done? "Future research needs to examine why women are seen as equally (or more) effective leaders than men, yet are not being rewarded in the same ways." Yeah, she can say that again.